Contractual Agreement
by n7shepard-commander
Summary: A new Duke has appeared in London seemingly out of thin air, accompanied by a butler clad in black. His credentials seem to be completely genuine and are accepted by the rest of the city's nobility without question, but does he truly have nothing to hide?


AN: It's been a while since I submitted anything, or wrote anything, so please don't expect a super awesome quality of writing... I'll see if anyone likes this enough to continue. It will revolve around my own master butler pairing, but I plan for the canon cast to make appearances, including (hopefully) frequent appearances by the other two master butler pairs. (OOOhhh I wonder which ones I'm talking about..) But anyway, I'm writing this myself, no betas or anything so constructive criticism would be welcome as would corrections on my grammar and whatever if it's totally hideous. Reviews are always fuel in the fire, so if you like this, please let me know and it might continue.

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"Cadmus, I'll be down in a few minutes, please make sure to have breakfast ready. I cannot be late to my visit to Earl Phantomhive's estate, God knows how upset he'll be with me if I am."

"Of course, Your Grace, I have everything already prepared."

The brunette gently pushes himself off the stairway railing, nod to themselves in response to the rich, velvety voice echoing off the manor's walls. He walks quickly back into the bedroom, sighing as he begins the process of dressing himself. _"I can help you with your clothes, young master,"_ the young man remembers, inadvertently shaking his head at the memory.

"I am a few months from being 19 years old; I can put on my own clothes, thank you very much," he murmurs to the empty room.

He sits on the bed, dragging over the outfit his butler had chosen for today. He slips on the dress shirt first, slipping two thin arms through the stiff, black sleeves and buttons it up to the collar. He then tugs on the elaborately, embroidered green vest next, smoothing out the striped, velvety fabric with small, long-fingered hands. The young master stands up, pulling up the matching black dress pants and ties up his hair in the green ribbon provided, the weight the long, straight, ponytail falling comfortably onto his back with a nearly inaudible thud. Twisting his body back towards the bed, the brunette turns and picks up the tie lying on the ruffled bed sheets, brown eyes narrowing in a critical manner. "You…" he whispers harshly, biting his lip as he rubs the expensive material in between a thumb and forefinger. "You did this on purpose, you damn butler," he hisses, positive his second chose this particular piece of clothing on purpose. He knows his master hates them as he is not able to tie them himself.

_"But that is why he is my butler, after all."_

He sighs again, putting the tie down. "Tch," the brunette scoffs quietly to himself, rubbing the back of his neck angrily, but flinching as his thumb brushes the contract on the side of his neck.

_"It no longer hurts, but..."_ A sudden blur of painful memories hits him like derailed train, and he forces them out of his shaking skull with a cry of discomfort.

The young master shakes his head and reaches for the collar assigned to todays outfit, deftly knotting the ribbons behind his neck and shifting the strip of decorative fabric to make sure the circular mark is completely covered. Draping the tie around his neck he slips on a pair of black shoes and heads out the bedroom door.

Although he's lived in this manor for a while now, the young master can't help but notice the continual silence of the numerous hallways. Slowly running trails along the old wallpaper with long fingers, he makes a decision to hire some servants, or the like, over the next few weeks, if time permits.

The master continues to glide down the stairs with the grace expected of a young nobleman such as himself, and enters the kitchen, tilting his head back and smiling as the room is enveloped a heavenly aroma.

"Cadmus."

He smiles over his shoulder at his young master, his hands busy with cleaning the dishes he had used to cook the meal set out on the table.

"Good morning, Your Grace. I trust to see you slept well?"

"Yes, I slept quite well, thank you for asking."

Content to stand for a few moments, the master simply observes his butler in silence, watching while he finishes his duties, putting the dishes on the rack to dry. The younger grows impatient and bored a few seconds into the placing of the already dry plates back into the cupboards, and with a dip of his head, the young master quickly walks into the living room, sitting up straight on the edge of one of the decorative French, fauteuil.

Still in full view of the kitchen, the butler catches his master's twinge of pain as the young lord twists to look out the window behind him.

_"How long with it take for the young master to break from the strain of his training?"_ The blonde butler wonders to himself.

"Cadmus?" the brunette whispers, tilting his head back slightly, seeming t0 hope his eyes would convey his intended message to his butler.

The butler chuckles quietly to himself, "Not long it would seem," he murmured, taking the time to nod at his lord, _"Permission granted."_

The young master sighs loudly, getting up and stretching lewdly, not minding the horrific sounding crack and his spine settles back into place before once again, throwing himself in the chair in a dramatic fashion, hanging his legs over the decorative wooden leg of the chair and letting his arms dangle languidly at his sides. He can't help but grin at the delicious lack of formality in his actions.

The lord crans his neck to meet his butlers eyes, voice heightening to a more comfortable octave before mumbling, "Oh thank _God_."

Cadmus smiles and shakes his head, walking over to his master with a silver serving tray he paces on the adjacent coffee table. During the patch of comfortable silence, the blonde butler gracefully pours his master a cup of tea, the latter accepting the cup with a whispered declaration of thanks.

The master breathes in the scent of the sweetened tea before taking a small sip. Smiling softly as the tea washed over his taste buds, the master's smile widens as he takes this opportunity to ask his butler, "So how'd I do this morning?"

The blonde butler looks his master over critically, taking the cup out of the younger's hands and placing it on the table while never breaking eye-contact. The brunette takes a deep breath and sits properly: firmly, back straight, looking the blonde directly in the eyes and hoping to look every inch of the confident, charismatic young man he is aiming to be.

The butler walks up to the young master slowly.

_"Breathe. Breathe."_

He chuckles lowly, bending down to be at an equal height to his lord. Suddenly he reaches out, grasping the un-tied tie around the brunette's neck in both hands and gives it a sharp tug, pitching the younger forward and reducing the distance between their faces to mere centimeters. The young master gasps, eyes widening at the servant's close proximity, grey eyes flicking downward for a brief moment.

"C-Cad-Cadmus," the younger squeaks, trembling as the blonde's hand gently rests against his face, a gloved thumb tracing circles on his cheek.

The butler leans back a fraction of an inch and shakes his head, sighing as he takes the draped fabric and performs the intricate loops and pulls, giving it a final tug to tighten it before tucking it under the vest.

"You were perfect up until that moment, young master," he teases, releasing the young master's still body, which thuds against the back of the chair, the sound echoing against the ivory walls of the living room.

The corners of the master's mouth twitch down as he subconsciously averts his eyes.

"You took me by surprise. How was I supposed to react to that?"

"You must be calm at all times, young master. As a gentleman, you must not let your emotions get the best of you," he noted with a smile.

Brown eyes narrow in frustration and he bites his lip.

_"Smug bastard, doing that on purpose like that... Acting like he might..."_

His hands clench tightly into fists in his lap, but in a moment he releases a breath, feeling a familiar, calm smile settle back on his face.

"Of course. I must be calm, radiate serenity and comfort. I cannot let my temper show itself, regardless of how I may be feeling. I must always be conscious of how I am acting, and how it reflects onto others."

He nods, "Absolutely right, young master. Now, if I may, I suggest you finish your breakfast quickly, it would be a shame to waste it if we were to wait so long it were to get cold."

The brunette nods in agreement and walk into the kitchen, sitting in preparation to eat while going through a mental list of the proper etiquette he would be required to exhibit during the visit to the young Earl's estate.


End file.
